


A whimper in the night

by Magnonette



Series: A lot can happen to Snufkin [6]
Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Anxiety, Crying, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-27 03:57:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21112274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magnonette/pseuds/Magnonette
Summary: Snufkin had been acting strange ever since he came back from his winter travel. Moomintroll was starting to worry that something might be wrong with his dear friend. He was worried that they had done something wrong that would have upset him in a way or another, or worst, that something had happened during his trip south and that, knowing the young mumrik, he didn't want to worry them with it.One late evening, Moomin decided that it was time to go see if he could talk with Snufkin. He was tired of seeing his friend running away from him.





	A whimper in the night

**Author's Note:**

> Here is a short little fic where I get to project a little onto Snufkin.  
Everyone gets to do that so it's my turn.

Snufkin had been acting strange ever since he came back from his winter travel. Moomintroll was starting to worry that something might be wrong with his dear friend. He was worried that they had done something wrong that would have upset him in a way or another, or worst, that something had happened during his trip south and that, knowing the young mumrik, he didn't want to worry them with it.

One late evening, Moomin decided that it was time to go see if he could talk with Snufkin. He was tired of seeing his friend running away from him.

When he arrived at his friend's tent, Snufkin was nowhere in sight. He didn't thought anything of this however. He knew his friend well enough not to worry over something as simple as that. Snufkin always came and went as he pleased. Sometimes, he wouldn't be back until night came as he went for a walk or just went fishing somewhere.

Moomin, who was decided on not pushing back their talk anymore, went to search for his dear friend in the places he knew he liked to go often.

Funny, Moomin thought while he walked through the forest, how he knew most of the places Snufkin liked to go to when he wanted to be alone.

He walked in the direction of the meadow where he knew his friend loved to come to whenever he needed some space, or when he felt overwhelmed.

Moomin stopped in the middle of the path. His ears perked up. There was a faint sound. Something that sounded like a quiet whimper. Moomin slowly approached from where the sound was coming from.

A wave of worry quickly replaced his first surprised as he looked ahead. In front of him, in the middle of the meadow, was Snufkin. He was sitting on the ground, curled up on himself, his knees pulled close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, his head pressed against his knees. He was shaking, whimpering quietly. His breathing was heavy and uneven. 

He hadn't noticed Moomin yet.

Moomin carefully made his way over to the mumrik, unsure of what to do or say. He approached him, kneeling quietly down next to him and putting a gentle paw in his shaking shoulder.

Snufkin, startled, jumped back, almost falling over. He looked at Moomin with wide and frightened red eyes, pooled with tears that were rolling down on his cheeks. He had bags under his eyes and looked as if he hadn't slept in a long time.

Moomin, who had pulled back at his frightened reaction, looked over at him as worry filled his guts. He felt the urge to pull his friend in his arms and hug him tight, but he knew better than to crowd his friend. Instead, he just tried to smiled gently at him, the best smile he could manage without showing too much of his worry, and handed a paw to Snufkin to help him sit back up next to him.

Snufkin hesitated for a moment, still looking a little shocked to see Moomin in front of him, but eventually accepted his paw. Moomin helped him settle back next to him. Snufkin didn't let go of his paw when he was done, so Moomin knew that it was okay for him to just keep holding his. He gave it a comforting squeeze.

Snufkin was still in some sort of distress next to him but Moomin didn't want to push him to talk as he knew it wouldn't help him at all. But it hurt him to see his friend struggling to breath as he continued to cry and shake. He had pulled his knees back to their previous spot, close to his chest and his other arm, the one that wasn't holding onto Moomin's paw was wrapped around his knees again, his hand gripping his trouser tight. He had turned his head away from Moomin, avoiding to look at him, instead staring ahead of them into nothingness.

Snufkin seemed to be trying to calm down so Moomin waited patiently, only giving a reassuring squeeze once and again when the mumrik looked like he was going to start all over again.

It took some time but, eventually, he settle down, finally able to breath calmly again. He was still trembling quite a lot and crying a little, but at least now he could breath.

"I'm sorry." He sniffled, his voice thick but quiet.

Moomin turned to look at him in confusion. He wanted to talk, to ask him why he was apologizing and for what, but Snufkin continued before he could open his mouth.

"I didn't want you to see me like this." He whispered, putting his chin on his knees as he continued to stare in front of him, avoiding to look at Moomin as this one frowned in concern. "I didn't want you to find out how messed up I am."

"What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?" He asked as gently as he could, making sure that it was clear that he wouldn't push him if he didn't want to speak.

Snufkin stayed silent for a moment, so long, in fact, that Moomin was pretty sure this was the end of that discussion. But, to his surprise, Snufkin spoke again, a little muffled as he hid his face in his knees.

"It's just-" He sniffled again. "I'm just like that sometimes. I just feel overwhelmed for no reason. I can't do anything about it and it comes randomly. It's why I have to leave for a few days sometimes." Moomin squeezed his paw again when he stopped. "I'm supposed to be the happy-go-lucky vagabond for all of you. I didn't want anyone to know. I didn't wanted anyone to see me like this. But this time it happened when I was coming back but I promised to you that I'd be back on the first day of Spring. I didn't want to break my promise." 

He had started to cry more again and Moomin, this time, couldn't stop himself when the urge to hug his friend became stronger. He let go of his hand to wrap his arms around the mumrik's frame and pull him into as best of a hug as he could manage in their position. Snufkin was startled at first, stiff, but he quickly relaxed into Moomin's hold and leaned on Moomin, hands grabbing at Moomin's fur on his chest and arm as he sobbed quietly against his chest.

Moomin hold him tightly, gently rubbing circles on his back to try to sooth him a little as he himself felt the tears starting to well up in his eyes. His poor heart was already broken from the moment he saw Snufkin crying but now it was as if it had been torn into pieces as he listened to his dear friend, the most precious person to him, talk about how bad he felt and how much he wanted to hide it from him. He took a deep, shaky breath before he started speaking.

"You don't have to pretend to be fine for us. For me." He said, voice full of emotions. "If you're not okay you can come and talk to us whenever you want. And if you need space, you can just tell us."

"But- I-" He tried to speak, still sobbing into Moomin's chest, soaking his beautiful white fur.

"No. Don't argue." Moomin said firmly. "We all love you. We don't want you to hide when you feel bad. We can help you, you know. We want to."

"I didn't want to worry you." He whimpered into his fur, his grip on Moomin tightening slightly as he tried to calm himself down again.

"I know you didn't." Moomin said gently, somehow pulling Snufkin closer in his arms and nuzzling gently his hair. "But it's when you don't tell us that we worry the most."

Snufkin stayed quiet, only letting out loud sobs, muffled slightly by Moomin's fur. Moomin was fully crying too now, but he continued to rub circles on his friend's back, whispering little reassurances in his ears.

Snufkin cried in Moomin's arms for a long time, until he had no tears left in him and was left shaking quietly. 

When Moomin was sure he had calmed down enough, he pulled away slowly, putting his paws on Snufkin's cheeks and wiping gently the tears away. Snufkin sniffled, looking at Moomintroll with sad, puffy red eyes. Moomin smiled at him gently, caressing his cheeks with his soft paws.

"No matter what happens, he started, we will always be there for you. Even if you don't want to worry us. There is no way any of us would prefer you crying alone and dealing with this, whatever this is, on your own. You can come to us whenever you need to talk, even if it's in the middle of the night. And if you just need someone to cry on, you can come to us, to me. We'll always be there."

Snufkin looked like he would cry all over again if he could, so Moomin pulled him in another hug. Snufkin accepted it, wrapping his arms around Moomin's back and hiding his face in his chest again as Moomin's paw reached to stroke his hair soothingly.

"Next time, come to us. Okay Snuf?" Moomin asked in his hair.

"I will." Snufkin nodded hesitantly against him.

Moomin let go of him, kissing his forehead gently, before getting up and reaching out a paw to help him up as well. He smiled brightly at him as he was up and took his paw.

"Now let's head back home. You haven't eaten yet, right? I'll make something for you. And make you a nice tea too." He said happily as he started walking, leading the way back to Moomin House. "And, if you want, how about you sleep with me tonight." He whispered hesitantly, blushing a little.

Snufkin rubbed at his face with his free paw, humming a quiet response as he squeezed gently Moomin's paw.

Later that night, the two had gone to bed, and Moomin convinced him to accept to talk to Mamma to get some help.

"Moomin?" Snufkin called quietly, refusing to look at him as this one turned on his side to face him. "Thank you."

"For what?" Moomin asked, confused.

"For everything." Snufkin said. "For being there when I need you, even if I don't ask you."

Moomin didn't say anything at that, instead pulling Snufkin close to him and closing his eyes. Snufkin returned the embrace and the two fell asleep in each others arms, smiling happily.

The next day they would have to face the others and their questions on Snufkin's behavior. Snufkin would have to explain everything to Mamma and accept her help. But as of now, they would just enjoy each others warmth and sleep in the most peaceful way they ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> It's a short fic I had planned months ago and wrote down quickly so I hope it's not too badly written.
> 
> Also, I'm not dead. My series is not finished yet and I'm already working on two (soon three) other fanfic for it, I just haven't had time to finish them yet and didn't want to put them on when I wasn't sure when I could continue and update them.  
Also thanks to all of you who read the whole series until now. It really means a lot to me to see that others enjoy what I do.


End file.
